18 Dua the Legacy of Our Prophets

TALK TOOLKIT — Delivering Lectures with Purpose Du’a: The Legacy of Our Prophets TALK TOOLKIT Du’a: The Legacy of Our Prophets In the name of Allah, the Most Merciful, the Grantor of Mercy. When thinking of worship in Islam, the five pillars of faith often come to mind first. We do our best to pray, fast, donate to the needy, make Hajj, and consistently renew our conviction in .ﷺ Allah and His Messenger, Muhammad But while the five pillars provide us with general guides on the long and challenging journey of life, Allah mandates His creation to participate in yet another beautiful way of worship: du’a, or supplicating to Him. The One who created us all wants us to develop and maintain a conversation with Him throughout our lives. Within our conversations, Allah encourages us to turn to Him to seek His guidance and rely on Him in good times and bad. In the process, we talk to Him about our fears, aspirations, desires, and struggles, and thank Him for the blessings in our life. Du’a acts as a powerful tool for any believer, existing simultaneously as a way to find comfort in struggle, show our gratitude and belief, and express to Allah our struggles and worries as a means of seeking His guidance. In doing so, we remain conscious of His presence and role in our lives amidst the ups and downs. Through du’a we can seek Allah’s forgiveness, find emotional comfort in knowing that there is an avenue to talk about things we perhaps can’t talk to anyone else about, and attain Allah’s pleasure with us. Those who talk to Allah when no one else is watching are of the conscious people (al-muttaqīn) He repeatedly mentions in the Qur’an. So let’s look to the Qur’an for inspiration. The opening surah of the Holy Qur’an is a du’a, and every rakat [unit] of every prayer begins with the recitation of the supplication that is Surah Al- Fatihah. In this du’a, Allah makes clear to His servants the nature of our relationship with Him from the outset, urging those who follow Him to seek His guidance throughout their lives. Directly following the sincere du’a for Allah’s guidance in Surah Al-Fatiha is an entire surah dedicated to such guidance: Al-Baqarah. And it is within Surah Al-Baqarah that Allah reveals the following: 1 َوإ َذا َﺳﺎٔ َﻟ َﻚ ِﻋ َﺒﺎ ِدي َﻋ ﱢﻨﻲ َﻓ ٕﺎﻧﱢﻲ َﻗ ِﺮ ٌﻳﺐ ۖ أ ِﺟ ُﻴﺐ َد ْﻋ َﻮ َة اﻟ ﱠﺪاعِ إ َذا َد َﻋﺎ ِن ۖ َﻓ ْﻠ َﻴ ْﺴ َﺘ ِﺠﻴ ُﺒﻮا ِﻟﻲ َو ْﻟ ُﻴ ٔﻮ ِﻣ ُﻨﻮا ِﺑﻲ َﻟ َﻌ ﱠﻠ ُﻬ ْﻢ ﻳَ ْﺮ ُﺷ ُﺪو َن And when My servants ask you concerning Me—indeed I am near. I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when He calls upon Me. So let them respond to Me and believe in Me that they may be guided. [2:186] The connection between Surah Al-Fatihah (the supplication for guidance) and Surah Al- Baqarah (the answer to the supplication for such guidance) epitomizes the relationship between humankind and our Creator. And while the order and structure of the first two chapters of the Qur’an can act as sufficient evidence for this claim, Allah provides us with two unique prophetic examples to demonstrate that relationship in action. Adam and Ibrahim find themselves in two very different situations yet, despite their differences, Allah details their unwavering dedication in turning back to Him. Today, we will compare the du’as of both of these prophets in terms of their context and how the two of them best exemplify the true nature of humankind’s relationship with our Lord. The Du’a of Prophet Adam in Context Prophet Adam was the first of humankind, initially abiding in Paradise with his wife, Hawwa. All he knew was the pleasure of Allah, and he lived a life of ease. Yet Shaytan caused Adam and Hawwa to slip, leading them to disobey Allah’s command to refrain from eating the fruits of a specified tree. Allah details Adam’s disobedience in verse 36, and in the very next verse reveals the following: َﻓ َﺘ َﻠ ﱠﻘ ٰﻰ آ َد ُم ِﻣﻦ ﱠرﺑﱢ ِﻪ ِﻛَﻠ َﻤﺎ ٍت َﻓ َﺘﺎ َب َﻋ َﻠ ْﻴ ِﻪ ۚ إﻧﱠ ُﻪ ُﻫ َﻮ اﻟ ﱠﺘ ﱠﻮا ُب اﻟ ﱠﺮ ِﺣﻴ ُﻢ Then Adam received from His Lord words, and He accepted his repentance. Indeed, it is He who is Accepting of repentance, the Merciful. [2:37] This incident, as it is related in the Qur’an, provides us with a few powerful lessons. Adam disobeyed Allah. Almost immediately, he receives instructions from his Lord on how to have a conversation with Him—a powerful indication that Allah wants to hear our prayers, and wants us to have our prayers answered, or else He would not have taught us. As proof, Allah accepted Adam’s repentance immediately after He taught him how to seek it. Adam’s sincerity and perseverance are central to understanding how our interactions with Allah should be. As previously mentioned, prior to Shaytan’s trick, all Adam had ever known 2 was a life of ease and pure enjoyment, which were all blessings from Allah alone. When he let Shaytan trick him into disobeying Allah, he went against the command of the One who gave him so much. At this point, it would have been easy for him to beat himself up and think that Allah would not accept his du’a or that he was not worthy of maintaining a connection with Him. But he immediately dismisses this problematic thought process, ignoring Shaytan’s attempt at tricking him into falling even further out of line. Directly after Allah explains Adam’s mistake in verse 36, He reveals that Adam sought sincere forgiveness from Him in the very next verse. Sometimes, we may feel like we have gone so far down the wrong road that we despair of Allah’s mercy and feel unworthy of seeking His forgiveness. But Allah reminds us through the example of Adam that this is simply a trick of Shaytan, and true believers seek Allah’s forgiveness immediately after they disobey Him. The story of Adam also shows us that Allah’s forgiveness is immediate—provided that we are sincere. Just as Surah Al-Baqarah is revealed immediately after Surah Al-Fatihah makes supplication for guidance, Allah explains to us that He forgives Adam the instant he seeks forgiveness. The very first human to ever live sinned, and there is no doubt we will sin as well. But it is never too late to turn back to Allah and seek His forgiveness. He will answer our supplication if we are sincere. The Du’a of Prophet Ibrahim in Context Surah Al-Baqarah details another important du’a of one of the earliest prophets: Ibrahim . However, unlike Adam, Ibrahim’s supplication comes directly after obeying the command of Allah—confirming that God’s promise to answer our supplication to Him applies during times of weakness and strength, triumph and failure. Allah reveals his command to Ibrahim and his son, Ismail, in verse 124 when He instructs them to build the Kaaba. After Ibrahim and Ismail are successful in their instructed task, Ibrahim makes du’a to Allah for the following: َرﺑﱠ َﻨﺎ ﺗَ َﻘ ﱠﺒ ْﻞ ِﻣ ﱠﻨﺎ ۖ إﻧﱠ َﻚ أ َﻧﺖ ا ﱠﻟﺴ ِﻤﻴ ُﻊ ا ْﻟ َﻌ ِﻠﻴ ُﻢ َرﺑﱠ َﻨﺎ َوا ْﺟ َﻌ ْﻠ َﻨﺎ ُﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ َﻤ ْﻴ ِﻦ َﻟ َﻚ َو ِﻣﻦ ُذ ﱢرﻳﱠ ِﺘ َﻨﺎ أ ﱠﻣ ًﺔ ﱡﻣ ْﺴ ِﻠ َﻤ ًﺔ ﱠﻟ َﻚ َوأ ِرﻧَﺎ َﻣ َﻨﺎ ِﺳﻜَ َﻨﺎ َوﺗُ ْﺐ َﻋ َﻠ ْﻴ َﻨﺎ ۖ إﻧﱠ َﻚ أ َﻧﺖ اﻟ ﱠﺘ ﱠﻮا ُب اﻟ ﱠﺮ ِﺣﻴ ُﻢ 3 َرﺑﱠ َﻨﺎ َواﺑْ َﻌ ْﺚ ِﻓﻴ ِﻬ ْﻢ َر ُﺳﻮ ًﻻ ﱢﻣ ْﻨ ُﻬ ْﻢ ﻳَ ْﺘ ُﻠﻮ َﻋ َﻠ ْﻴ ِﻬ ْﻢ آﻳَﺎ ِﺗ َﻚ َوﻳُ َﻌ ﱢﻠ ُﻤ ُﻬ ُﻢ ا ْﻟ ِﻜ َﺘﺎ َب َوا ْﻟ ِﺤﻜْ َﻤ َﺔ َوﻳُ َﺰﻛﱢﻴ ِﻬ ْﻢ ۚ إﻧﱠ َﻚ أ َﻧﺖ ا ْﻟ َﻌ ِﺰﻳ ُﺰ ا ْﻟ َﺤ ِﻜﻴ ُﻢ Our Lord, accept from us. Indeed You are the Hearing, the Knowing. Our Lord, and make us Muslims to You and from our descendants a Muslim nation to You. And show us our rites and accept our repentance. Indeed, You are the accepting of repentance, the Merciful. Our Lord, and send among them a messenger from themselves who will recite to them Your verses and teach them the Book and purify them. Indeed, You are the Exalted in Might, the Wise. [2:127-129] Ibrahim’s situation is the opposite of Adam’s. He has lived a life of hardship, and no ease has come to him. Yet we see him unwavering in his dedication in doing good and obeying the command of Allah. It is through the story of Ibrahim and the account of his du’a to Allah that we are given another example of what our connection with Allah should look like. Just like Adam , Allah accepts Ibrahim’s supplication right away. However, note here that Ibrahim asks Allah to make his descendants Muslims and to send a messenger to them. This is a long-term request that will undoubtedly occur after Ibrahim’s lifetime. Hence, although Allah answers our du’a right away, the nature of what we seek may not always unfold right away or even during our worldly existence.

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